Tag Archives: Kajonkietsuksa School

As I sit here on the floor of Abu Dhabi International Airport already a bit jet-lagged but with 18 of my 35-hour total flight time to go, I can’t help but reflect on the last two years I’ve spent living outside of the United States of America.

The first of dozens of international flights since 2010.

I would be lying if I said that I had planned this all from the beginning. When I left the U.S. in 2010, I assumed I had sold my traithlon bike and my surfboard to buy a ticket to visit my South African boyfriend, not travel around the globe. But life has a funny way of showing you that not everything can be planned.

Exhibit A: Our puppy, Major. Totally unplanned.

And then I extended my 90-day visa for an additional 90 days purely to stay a little longer in South Africa, not to move to Thailand. But again, life has a funny way of working.

Thailand had begun as an idea, a solution for Morgan and I to be able to work/live in the same country while still seeing a bit of the world outside of the United States or South Africa. What it became was an experience neither of us would trade for the world. We were English teachers, backpackers, muay thai fighters, hot yoga groupies, scooter-riders, chili-eaters, mountain climbers and the list goes on.

Did I mention how much I loved the little monkeys that were my K1 Watermelon kindergarten class?

And then a decision had to be made: stay in Thailand for at least another year… or go?

Morgan and I both loved our year in Thailand for any number of reasons: friendly people, good jobs, great friends, AMAZING food, awesome hobbies and ridiculously cool experiences. But for some reason, we both came to the conclusion that we weren’t ready for our lives to be that simple yet, that sorted. (Idiotic logic, right?)

But I still believe that we made the right decision and away we went, back to Africa. By this time, however, I had already been hired to start work for African Impact in Mozambique.

I had always dreamed of doing community development work in Africa and after three months of online job hunting while still living in Phuket, there it was: my dream job in the small beach town of Vilanculos, Mozambique. On several occasions, I remember thinking that I was seeing ‘Africa’ for the first time.

Children’s Day at Bernard’s Orphanage in Vilanculos.

And then every community development workers’ nightmare came true: the Office of Immigration in Vilanculos decided to continuously reinterpret their understanding of what volunteer tourism is and what African Impact does as a company, hence my transfer to African Impact projects in St. Lucia, South Africa.

Building a tire course playground at a creche in Khula Township, just outside of St. Lucia.

I missed the project in Mozambique terribly, but I think I even surprised myself by landing on my own two feet in a new country and in a new position, especially when considering this had all come about with 12-hours notice. I think this was my turning point – when I realized that maybe everything does happen for a reason. Life is often sink or swim and I was determined to swim no matter what. And I swam like hell.

How many people can you fit in a 16-passenger van? As a passenger who has counted, I can confidently say 29 people.

As I’ve sat here in my final moments abroad, I’ve struggled to find the right words to sum it all up – to possibly explain to someone how the past two years have not only changed my life, but changed the kind of person I was then to the person I am now. And what I think of to say is this:

It doesn’t matter where you go or how much money you have or where you’re from – it matters how open you are to embracing the full experience. The smells, the sounds, the people, the culture, the philosophy, the heart of what it means to be a global citizen.

And as I’ve stated in the ‘About Me’ section of my blog since my very first days blogging about this 22-month long adventure: I’m far from being the most experienced traveler, but I’ve found that flip-flops and a backpack can take you just about anywhere.

Thank you to anyone reading this who I’ve met over the last two years, whether in Thailand, Bali, Mozambique or South Africa. You’ve taught me what it means to be family even when you’re far from the family you’ve always known. And a very special thanks to Lulu and Tex, my South African parents.

On my last day of work as a teacher in Phuket, I’m taking the time to reflect back on the past year: the good, the bad, the funny, the kids, the islands, the adventure. It really has been an amazing 12 months.

But I would be lying if I told you that 12 months ago I knew everything would turn out this well.

When first contemplating the idea of coming to teach English in Thailand, I was nervous. I’m not a teacher and I’ve never been to Asia before. Would I adapt to the culture? Where would I live? Would I actually find a job? Within weeks of being in Thailand, all of these questions answered themselves. Naturally, however, I’ve seen these same worries expressed in the emails and facebook messages of friends contemplating the experience of teaching here. For these friends and others, this post is dedicated to guiding you onto the plane, past the TEFL scams and safely into a teaching position in the Land of Smiles.

Ko Samui Airport, Thailand

First things first: make the decision to come to Thailand. It sounds like it’s the easiest part, but for many, it can be the hardest. Many of the people that come to teach (like myself) aren’t career teachers and the thought of breaking from your career path, even for a few months, can be scary. Others that come have never been away from friends or family for more than a few days. Whatever it might be that is holding you back, you have to make a decision. An old-fashioned ‘Pros vs. Cons’ list can never be overrated.

My alma mater.

Great! You’ve decided to come. Now, you need to review your qualifications. In order to obtain a work permit to teach English in Thailand, you must have a bachelor’s degree. It doesn’t matter what you studied in college, but it does matter that you be able to provide a copy of your degree and college transcript. While you’re at it, make sure you have an up-to-date resume to hand potential employers upon arriving. Copies of relevant certificates and a police clearance form from your local police station stating that you have a clean record are also big pluses!

Another big plus is having a degree and/or certificate in teaching OR having a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate. While it’s not necessary to have a TEFL certificate in addition to your bachelor’s, it is looked favorably upon, particularly for those with no prior teaching experience. You can complete a TEFL course online, but as with most things, you gain more from a TEFL course conducted in a traditional classroom setting. A TEFL course can be completed in your home country or once you arrive in Thailand. If you’re looking to do your TEFL course in here in Thailand, I’d recommend Island TEFL, based in Ko Samui. It’s a trust-worthy organization based on a beautiful island and they usually offer several promotions to make enrolling more cost-effective.

If you do choose to enroll in a TEFL course, beware of courses or companies that guarantee you job placement. From my own experience and those of friends currently teaching with me, this is one of the biggest scams out there with regards to teaching in Thailand. As I stated previously that a TEFL certificate is only a plus, you don’t need a company to set you up with a job. In fact, schools here only hire foreign staff by way of an interview with one of their in-house staff members – not a contracted company. Beware.

Motorbike it.

So what’s left to do? Get up and go! While I have heard of people being hired as teachers in Thailand prior to their arrival, many schools refrain from doing this out of fear thatthe teachers might never show. Your best bet is to get here first and start the job hunt. A great first step in your search for a teaching position in Thailand is to create a profile on ajarn.com. You can upload a picture, your resume and any other qualifications you might have. Include your email and phone number in Thailand and – speaking from experience – you will have schools from all over the country contacting you in a matter of hours!

Once schools start contacting you, you’ll have to decide where in Thailand you would like to call home. During our job hunt, Morgan and I knew that we wanted to teach in Phuket. Unfortunately, we didn’t receive any responses from schools in Phuket based on our ajarn.com profiles. So what did we do? We got on a bus, arrived in Phuket, rented a motorbike and took the job hunt into our own hands. Dressed in business casual attire and with copies of our resumes in hand, we drove all over the island… for about a week until we both secured jobs. (*See earlier post, Motorcycle Diaries from Phuket to read about our first days looking for work.)

Scooter fun with Kassie and Morgan.

More useful information when considering teaching in Thailand:

The Thai school year starts in May and ends in March, so the best time to come is March/April. There is also a mid-year break in October, so this is another great time to come looking for work as many foreign teachers leave after the first semester.

An average English teacher salary in Thailand is 30,000 baht per month, which is equivalent to $1,000. Schools in rural areas might pay a bit less while schools in areas popular with foreigners (such as Bangkok or Phuket) generally pay a bit more. While this doesn’t seem like much compared to salaries back home, the cost of living in Thailand is also much lower than in other countries. In how many other countries can you pay $1 for an entire meal?

If you’re looking for work in Phuket, try Satree Phuket School or Kajonkietsuksa School. Both schools have large English-teacher staffs (Satree has about 30 English teachers; Kajonkietsuksa has over 100 English teachers) and are almost always in need of new teachers.

The work week for English teachers is generally 7:45 am – 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.

My kindergarten class in Phuket, Thailand.

The best piece of advice I can give is to try to be the best teacher you can be because to your kids, you are the most qualified teacher they know. Life in Thailand is different, but adapt! Take time to get to know the kids in your class, travel and eat lots of Thai food. I can guarantee you that you won’t regret a minute of it.

A lot has happened since my last blog update. For starters, Morgan and I finally moved out of the backpackers and we have a permanent address here in Phuket (see Contact Me section). We moved into a new apartment building in Phuket Town. It has a pool, a small gym, a great view of Rang Hill (at the top of which you can look down upon the entirety of Phuket Town and Chalong Bay) and it’s no more than a 15-second walk to a number of great street stalls where we can grab dinner. (Keep an eye out for pictures of ‘The Noodle Man,’ the Thai businessman who runs what I believe to be the best noodle stall in all of Phuket!)

And the job hunt? DONE. As of Monday, I have been working as a kindergarten teacher at Kajonkietsuksa School (one of the largest private schools on the island). I am the homeroom teacher of K1 Watermelon (K1 is identified by fruits, K2 by animals, K3 by colors and so on). I’ll be teaching English and social science to 3-4 year old Thai students (many of which have one non-Thai parent). In the classroom, there is also an English-speaking Filipino teacher who teaches the students math and a Thai teacher whose lessons are completely in Thai. It is customary that teachers refer to each other as ‘Teacher Kassie,’ ‘Teacher Sheryl’ (the Filipino teacher), and ‘Khun Kru Jiab’ (the Thai teacher). It is also customary that the students line up and ‘wai‘ to the teachers each and every morning.

This past week, even with all of the administrative support, has definitely been a ‘sink or swim’ experience, but I’ve enjoyed getting ready for the kids to come on Monday. I’ve been living on websites like SparkleBox, a website no grown woman would ever visit unless she was teaching kindergarten. I’ve already spent hours waiting in line to print from the school’s only color printer alongside the other 300+ teachers, 97 of which are foreign teachers from the U.S., England, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, Switzerland, India, New Zealand, Hungary and the Philippines. I even bought the kids the book, “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” a childhood favorite of mine that I remember from kindergarten. While at dinner with friends last night, I ran across the street to a purchase a brown bear stuffed animal that the kids could associate with the story and subsequently, maybe associate with reading.

Although I have high hopes of being a great kindergarten teacher, I would be lying to myself and anyone reading this if I said that I truly knew what I was doing. I’m hoping that my love of kids and my eagerness to learn will be enough to start with and that I’ll learn more with each passing English lesson, nap time and kindergarten morning assembly. Luckily, Teacher Sheryl and the teachers of K1 Strawberry and K1 Grape are there as friendly people and fantastic resources.

Until Monday, however, I plan to enjoy simply living in Phuket. Morgan, Will Greta and I are heading to Nai Harn Beach this afternoon to enjoy the last month of the ‘hot season’ (‘rainy season’ sets in next month and runs through October). The big weekend night market is also on the agenda… and hold thumbs/cross your fingers for Morgan’s job interview on Monday. Assuming all goes well, he’ll be teaching 14-15 year olds at Satree Phuket School until April 2012.